Now’s the perfect time to plant new bulbs for spring

What bulbs should you plant for a beautiful display next spring?

You’ll find hundreds of varieties on offer at your local garden centre, but I found all the ones I need – all the ones I find perform best – are available, for much less, in nice packages at Costco.

I popped into my local store this week and picked up half a dozen of these excellent packages, giving me more than 500 new bulbs for the garden. The packages sell for under $15.

My favourites were all there: Allium Purple Sensation, muscari (grape hyacinth), crocus and assorted bluebells (Hyacinthoides).

People were asking me when I was in Costco: “Is it okay to plant these now?”

Yep. Anytime now till the end of October.

“Oh, I thought you planted them in spring,” they said.

Nope. Plant now and you get a wonderful display in spring; don’t plant now and you get nothing in spring.

Allium Purple Sensation are one of my favourites. They perform flawlessly and always fill the garden will glorious, purple globes in May.

But I noticed there were also packages containing yellow and blue alliums, both of which also look fantastic.

Crocus are perfect for scattering everywhere, especially on a lawn with a sunny exposure.

It’s best to just toss them in a random pattern on the ground and plant them where they fall.

Don’t try to get too precise about the arrangement. Random patterns and odd numbers always look best.

I couldn’t resists also buying a package of species tulips. They look great and I know they perform without a hitch.

They come up around the same time as the grape hyacinths, which are also flawless performers, producing a superb carpet of blue flowers under trees and shrubs in March and April.

You could also plant some beautiful dwarf narcissus. Tete a Tete is a good one. There are dozens of others. These grow only 8 to 10 inches high but look terrific in clusters under trees.

I will next be looking for hyacinths. These look great scattered throughout the border. I’m particularly keen on blue and white varieties.

Now, the challenge is to get all these bulbs planted.

The most time consuming for me will be the alliums because the bulbs are bigger. It takes a little longer to dig the hole and plant each bulb.

Hey, as Kipling said, “half a gardener’s work is done upon his knees”, so put in the time and you will reap the rewards.

Happy bulb planting.

swhysall@hotmail.com